What Security Software do you Recommend?

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About keeping your computer up to date: Windows Update is not enough! In addition to Windows itself, it is important to update all programs that you use for

1. accessing the net
2. opening files that you got from the net.

I have three recommendations for helping with that:

1. Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector) is a free (for personal use) program designed to run constantly (without using a lot of resources) and check your security-critical installed software against a database of updates.
2. FileHippo Update Checker (also free) does the same thing, but only when you manually start it. Its database (range of programs covered) seems larger than Secunia's, but it doesn't distinguish between critical and non-critical updates.
3. If you have installed programs that are not covered by FileHippo or Secunia, set a Web service to watch the home pages (or, maybe better, the download pages) for those programs and send you a mail whenever they change. I use one called WatchThatPage.

For a free firewall, I recommend Sunbelt. At the beginning, the popups asking what you want to do are slightly annoying, but once it learns your habits, it works well. And it consumes little resources. I have also used Avira Free Anti-Virus for years, without a hitch.

I cant decide What to get Kaspersky or SYMANTEC, please be honest. Which is better

I find that GFI Backup works equally well for hard disk backups. it does not do any hard disk clones, but i can do without this feature considering that GFI Backup does what it does for free! :-)

i was using avg free some time back and some geeks in west australia recommended i use NOD32. the said its the best and i believe it. ive had 0 probs since i got it. nothing ever seems to get by it. id recommend it over anything. regards

i used avg free for 3 weeks then it or windows failed.. i had windows security telling me that avg free was turned off, when i went to avg it said it was on all things fine no need to do anything.. so you must ask which one was lying. i dont know. because i'm using windows avg had to go. sorry dudes didn't work for me. now i use something else not a problem since

Oh, c'mon. The millons of Internet users with only a single PC are not going to buy a separate machine just to use as a firewall. However, they certainly do need a firewall, so it has to be software.

Reread the article you just commented on. Nowhere did I recommend getting an separate machine. A $50 router is all you need - 'bout the same cost as a software firewall, more reliable and easier to set up. Yes, I remain convinced it's a very reasonable recommendation. A software firewall is not required.

08-Aug-2009

Like you Leo, I have been using CA Antivirus for years - but I won't be renewing my subscriptions. The 2009 suite (I know you don't like suites!) seems to be a real resource hog. I switched my wife's computer (worst affected by the CA performance drain) to the free version of Avira and after a week of restored performance, bought a licensed version. No regrets. When my CA license expires, I plan to switch all my PCs to Avira.

Yes, I'm moving away from CA myself, and will be updating my recommendations as time permits.

12-Aug-2009

I'm surprised not to see Malwarebyte's AntiMalware program on your list of recommendations. I've cleaned up my own as well as my kids' machines along with those of friends and family with AMW when nothing else would fully do the trick. Myself and many people I know are happy to recommend AMW to others.

It's a free download and stays on your system without running in the background, so it's not a real time scanner but when you have a problem you launch it, download the updated files and then scan (either quick or deep version).

I've been amazed to see AMW pick up dozens and even hundreds of issues (including worms, dialers and trojans) on various machines. The effects are instant and we've all had our speedy, happy computers back in working order.

I would really like to hear about Norten 360. I am a beginner and thought it was good,but what do i know? Thanks

As I mention in the article, I'm not a big fan of all-in-one suites.

12-Sep-2009

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